Valuation and Survey Fee's

jude1976

Hi All,

I'm struggling a little bit to understand the fee's i'm going to have to pay when buying a house and selling my flat.

I have had solicitors quotes of £440 for selling the flat and £839 for buying the house. Ontop of this there will be the estate agent fee's of £1395 + VAT. A mortage reservation fee of approx £399.

The area i'm struggling with is understanding valuations and survey's. Are they one of the same thing. I think I have to pay £300 up front ont he mortgage for a survey but not sure if i'll need cash to pay for a valuation also.

I'd appreciate it if anyone could put me right on this and also let me know any fee's i've forgotten.

Many Thanks

djm1972

Hi jude,

What normally happens when you apply for a mortgage is that you can choose just to have the basic valuation carried out; or whether to take advantage of the fact that the valuation requires a chartered surveyor to visit the property anyway and therefore have them carry out a more comprehensive condition survey (normally called a Home Buyer's Report) whilst they are there.

There should be an option on your mortgage application form asking whether you would like a basic valuation or the home buyer's report; and the accompanying guide to fees should indicate what you will need to pay in each case. A home buyer's report is normally about 3/4 as much again.

rjm2k1

The £300 will be for a basic valuation survey, it basically proves that the building exists, if you are lucky, the surveyor might even get out of their car and look at the property on the inside. I saw a post somewhere recently, where the surveyor did a drive by survey!

The next step up is a homebuyers survey, this will cost more and go into more detail, but will also be full of disclaimers saying that you may need further advice.

Next up is the full survey, which costs even more and will still have lots of disclaimers saying you may need further advice, but they will possibly look in the loft and under carpets etc.

Your lender really only requires the minimum survey, the others are to protect you, your lender may allow you to upgrade their survey rather than paying for 2 if you want something more than just a valuation.

djm1972

I saw a post somewhere recently, where the surveyor did a drive by survey!

Also seen on terms and conditions of application that at their discretion; statistical methods may be used to establish the valuation. Doesn't make any reference of what happens to your valuation fee!